Below you can see different headers being used.

Another change we can expect to see with the themes is that users will no longer need to click any buttons to change their theme but are presented with the theme selection by just hovering over the header.

Lets hope its not too far away before we can start to use these new themes.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 or 6.6

It is very likely that Microsoft will officially announce and release the latest version of Windows Mobile 6.X. The update will most notably include a revised UI across the whole OS and support for capacitive screens.

Microsoft have already announced this update to Windows Mobile.

Zune

Zune Windows Mobile Software

Steve Ballmer promised, via The Engadget Show, that when Microsoft next release a version of Windows Mobile (6.5.3 or 6.6) they will also release a Zune app for their mobile OS. As far as I can tell in the US and Canada the app will link in with the Zune service, as the Zune HD does, however outside of those countries the Zune app, if there is one, will only play music synced from a user’s PC.

“Zune Phone”

Rumours have been growing over the past year about a Microsoft branded phone(s) firstly beginning with Project Pink, well documented by Mary Jo Foley, and has recently taken on the form of the “Zune Phone”.

This phone, whatever it may be, is likely to be Microsoft branded with heavy Zune integration both in terms of the UI design and how to sync content on the phone. The operating system is likely to be a scaled back version of soon to be announced Windows Mobile 7 and will use a the same Nvidia Tegra chip as in the Zune HD.

There is likely to be a brand new set of premium services on devices(s) from Project Pink but what exactly these service will feature is unknown.

Windows Mobile 7

Probably the most anticipated announcement Microsoft could make at MWC is about Windows Mobile 7 which they have described as “more than evolutionary”. Little is known about what Windows Mobile 7 will be like and what new features Microsoft will be adding but it is rumoured that there will be two versions of the OS; a business version which will allow OEMs to replace the default UI and a Media version which is likely to have close integration with several Microsoft services such as Zune and Xbox Live.

Windows Live Wave 4

There has been no word on whether Microsoft will demo any parts of the new Windows Live release however I expect and hope Windows Mobile to make use of Microsoft’s social network, online service and features to enhance Windows Mobile. I hope that Live Mesh technology is used to backup data to the cloud and user’s computers and things like contacts and calendar can be easily kept in sync across the whole suite and all devices that can access the services.

If you have heard or hear of any other rumours about what might be announced by Microsoft at MWC then please let me know via comments or Twitter.

Keep up to date with all the latest “Zune Phone” and Windows Mobile 7 news.

As you can see there are a few small changes to the structure of the up coming Hotmail including:

• Easily accessible options via the “cog” icon
• Inbox and Folders are now separated so it is possible to collapse the folders list to save vertical space
• Quick views has been added to allow access to specific content, including flagged content. From looking at at what is included in Quick views it could well exist across the whole online experience of Windows Live
• Related places now has Home instead of Today as the Today screen will no longer exist in Wave 4
  
• There has been a few changes to the top of the explorer box currently there is no title for the box
  I doubt this indicates anything exciting and new to the right of the title box, but you never know
• Finally under the “Arrange by” drop down menu there is the option for conversation mode, as we have been expecting to see

Looking forward to seeing more screenshots of Wave 4…oh and actually being able to use it.

Above you can see the process of sharing a document using the “Share something new” box which I guess will be present in all Windows Live pages. Interestingly on the middle image it appears to be on the a “Hotmail notifications” page, I’d guess that is page users are taken too when they click Hotmail in the header.

As you can see in the below picture the sign in screen looks very much the same however there is a new option at the bottom of the sign in form “single-use code”.

When using your own PCs you will be able to sign in as normal but when you are at a public PC say at work, university or an internet cafe you can request a “single-use code”. This will send a code to an alternate email address or your mobile phone (select countries only) so you can sign in to Windows Live without using your real password so it wont be saved in anyway on the public machine. I think this will be a useful feature for people concerned about their online security but the process does seem a little tenuous.

As we know it will be possible to access Messenger through the online Windows Live interface so now when you sign in online you can change your “sign in as” presence before signing in.

If you want to see more picture of the feature there are more on LiveSide and LiveSino.

Everything I have seen so far of what will be coming in new the Windows Live looks to cater everything I want and I’m expecting a few other features I didn’t even know I wanted.

Interestingly when I go to the same page I don’t see that red warning message.

I never use my.live.com but hope whatever replacement service is more useful, with more plugins and has the UI of the latest Windows Live releases. Another thing to note is live.com will soon no longer redirect to bing.com, perhaps live.com will be the new home of a customised page for Windows Live users. Although I seem to remember live.com was going to become the home of all Live services from Microsoft, Windows, Office and Xbox, 45 days after the launch of bing.com so maybe live.com will now become that page.

If you want more details on any of these points then check out the links at the start of this post. I’ll leave you with the image of what is believed to be the upcoming Windows Live Mail where you can see the conversation mode in action.

New Services

There have been very few leaks about new services but the ones we do know about are:

• Devices – Would seem to be a Live Mesh way to link and sync your various devices, whether they be PCs, Macs, Mobiles, etc, with each other and the cloud. The service may provide configuration options and remote control/use of the device.
• Documents – Seems like the Documents service will be the new way to save and store Office documents, and I guess store any file, on Windows Live; SkyDrive will probably be the backend for this service which is likely to incorporate Live Mesh like functionality.

There is one other service I think we can expect to be added to Windows Live:

• Videos – Surely Microsoft has not given up against Google with YouTube in the online video market so I am expecting some kind of Video service, it could well be an additional aspect of the Photos service.

Changes To Existing Services

• Header – although not being a real service it appears in most Windows Live services and is set to change again for Wave 4. As you can see below the header has been restructured into only 4 heading, or pillars, with the lesser services accessed by hovering over the service names. The header will also be dynamic showing users how many unread emails they have and how many of their contacts are online.
  
• Web Messenger – It appears that Microsoft will be bringing Messenger properly online by allowing users to access the service wherever they are in Windows Live, I would guess it will act similarly to Facebook Chat.
  

Changes To Existing Applications

In general all the content editing applications within Windows Live will now be receiving the ribbon interface and the other applications, Messenger, will receive a UI overhaul similar to that of the Zune software.

• Mail – The application will now have access to the calendar down the right hand side and will support a conversation mode for collecting emails together to more easily follow a conversation between a contact. It also sounds like Windows Live Mail will support various Gmail features and I can guess it will support other email clients functionality.
  
• Writer – All that is currently known is that it will have the ribbon interface.
  
• Messenger – Messenger looks to be getting quite a major make over with an additional pane to the left which we are certainly not used too. It appears as if this new pane will display a list of everything that is new with a user’s contacts. Another interesting thing to note is the “Connected to” control at the bottom right of the windows, perhaps we will be able to use other instant messaging services from Messenger. 
  Messenger 2010 will also be supporting tab conversation windows, something a lot of people have been asking for for some time, I’m not sure I really see the appeal.
  
  Users will also be able to control their online presence with the Aero thumbnails when using Windows 7.
   
  I believe the next image is only a concept image created by a fan however I think it shows what Messenger 2010 will look like.
  

Others Things To Expect With Wave 4

• Integration – I believe there will be a high level of integration of Windows Live with other Microsoft products and services, we already know the Office Web Apps will be accessed through Windows Live but I also think Windows Mobile (6.6, 7 or the “Zune Phone”) will feature Windows Live very heavily.
• Social – I think Microsoft will try and make Windows Live Wave 4 more of a social networking platform where users can share information easily to many people across various services, for exampling hitting the upload button in Photo Gallery will upload the photo to Windows Live Photo, Facebook, Flickr, Twitpic etc at the same time. I also believe we can expect to see a URL shortening service to help this sharing of information.
• TVs – It has been rumoured that Microsoft have been talking with a few TV makers so we might see some level of access to Windows Live on TVs in the future, I doubt this would be completed in time for the launch of Wave 4 but perhaps later in the year.

If you want to keep track of the latest Windows Live Wave 4 news then you might to check out this collection of posts.

Here you can see the dynamic header again where the number next to Hotmail denoted the number of unread emails and the number next to Messenger is how many people are online. One small thing from the above image is that I do wonder about the new profile border, I prefer the current one with curved edges not straight ones.

Above is the more interesting of the two pictures as it shows the ability to control your Messenger presence and your account properties. It looks to me like users will be able to access a web version of messenger on every page of Windows Live, this will be a very useful feature; a bit like Facebook Chat I would guess.

Very cool if you ask me and something that should have been there before, what else will we see today I wonder.